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Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler on Tuesday attended a White House meeting between President Barack Obama, cabinet members and about a dozen insurance company CEOs.
“President Obama certainly made one thing clear: Regardless of what you may hear from some people, the federal health care reform law will not be repealed,” said Kreidler. (For a timeline of what takes effect when, please see our Health Care Reform web pages.)

Kreidler was one of six state insurance commissioners at the private meeting, which was followed by a presidential speech about progress in implementing the health reform law.
“The president delivered a clear message to health insurers not to use these reforms as a way to artificially hike their rates,” said Kreidler. “And to make sure that doesn’t happen, he’s offering grants to state insurance departments, which scrutinize rate increases.”

A Lynnwood, Wash. man has been charged with insurance fraud after claiming that car thieves had made off with his $33,000 collection of silk neckties.

Carlton H. Wopperer, 49, is scheduled to be arraigned on July 6, 2010 in Snohomish County Superior Court on two counts of insurance fraud.

Three times in 9 years, he claimed, thieves had stolen his collection of 212 silk neckties from his vehicle. But an investigation revealed that Wopperer had returned many of the ties within minutes of buying them.

“You can’t return a product, keep the receipt, and then claim that the product was stolen. That’s classic insurance fraud,” said Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler. “And insurance fraud drives up the cost of premiums for everyone else.”

To report staged accidents, faked injuries, double-billing of insurers or other insurance fraud in Washington state, call the insurance commissioner’s Special Investigations Unit at (360) 586-2566 or email them at contactSIU@oic.wa.gov.